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THE WAY 



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Y CHARLES STEARNS 



AUTHOR OF 

FACTS IN THE LIFE OF GEN. TAYLOR, &C," "TAYLOR, 
CASS AND VAN BUREN COMPARED," AND " ENCROACH- 
MENTS OF THE SLAVE-POWER UPON THE RIGHTS 



OF THE NORTH. 



5" 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 

18 4 9. 

FOR SALE BY BELA MARSH, NO. 25 CORNHILL. 




Class L-±£y£ 

Rnnk - S & 1 4- 



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THE WAY 



TO 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 



BY CHARLES STEARNS, 



AUTHOR OF 

" FACTS IN THE LIFE OF GEN. TAYLOR, &C," " TAYLOR, 
CASS AND VAN BUREN COMPARED,'* AND " ENCROACH- 
MENTS OF THE SLAVE-POWER UPON THE RIGHTS 
OF THE NORTH." 



BOSTON: 

PUBLISHED BY THE AUTHOR. 

1849. 



>o4 









INTRODUCTION 



After the flood of light respecting the evils of the ex- 
ecrable system of chattel Slavery, thrown upon the 
minds of the community by eighteen years of Anti-Slave- 
ry preaching ; it would seem almost a work of superer- 
ogation to attempt to cast any more light upon the sub- 
ject ; therefore in this work, nothing will be said in refer- 
ence to this part of the subject ; but every effort will be 
made to convince the reader of the efficacy of the remedy 
here proposed. 

It will be necessary to say at the commencement of 
this work, that the author is no politician, and does not 
write for party purposes ; neither is he the agent, or the 
organ of any Anti-Slavery society, but writes on his own 
authority, and that of truth ; being responsible to no man 
for what he shall assert. 

My object is to present to the public mind, what I 
deem to be the only true and effectual remedy for the 
terrible disease of Slavery. If in doing this, you are 
condemned, reader, judge not hastily that I am wrong ; 
but give me a candid and impartial hearing. In the Ian- 



IV INTRODUCTION. 

guage of the apostle, " prove all things, and hold fast 
that which is good." 

I am not a disunionist, from any wish to see anarchy 
casting its direful shade over our land ; but from a sin- 
cere desire to prevent " confusion worse confounded" 
from reigning in our midst, as most assuredly will be the 
case if Slavery exists many years longer. Let us then 
"give the pull, the long pull, and the pull altogether," and 
drag this terrific monster from his hiding place between 
the walls of the sanctuary, and the halls of legislation, 
giving him no rest, until he flees from earth, back to 
perdition from whence he sprang. 

THE AUTHOR. 



THE WAY TO ABOLISH SLAVERY. 



Slavery is the medium through which the corrupt 
passions of men flow with resistless power. Beneath 
its influence every plant of virtue sickens and dies. 
Its putrid form taints the air which we breathe, and 
exhales all manner of foul odors, which render it so 
obnoxious to truth and purity, that these angels would 
speedily end its existence, if it were not for the support 
it derives from other sources than itself. Although 
coarse and brawny in its outward appearance, yet it is 
within full of disease ; and nothing but continual doses 
of medicine enable it to present the appearance of 
life. It is said that a celebrated magnetiser, once 
preserved a dead body from putrefaction for a long 
time, by the power of magnetism. At length he with- 
drew the magnetising power, and the body instantly 
crumbled to atoms. Thus with Slavery ; withdraw 
the enchantments from it, which priests, politicians, and 
speculators have thrown around it, and it expires of its 
own corruption. It lives only by this outward sup- 
port, just as the virtue of some men is caused only by 
their being paid or praised for it. Apply, then, the 
finger of truth to its gigantic form ; let but the mighty 
arm of righteousness lay hold of these sustaining in- 
fluences, and sweep them from it ; and it will fall as 
quickly as a huge statue would, if the pedestal on 
which it stands should be removed from under it. 

Slavery, to be sure, reaches mountain high, tower- 
1* 



THE WAY TO 



ing over all other eminences in this nation ; far above 
the highest steeple, or State-house cupola, (church and 
State ;) yet tall and commanding as it is. it shall be 
laid lowly in the dust, if but truth can reach the props 
and guards which keep it alive. Herculean though it 
may be in strength, it shall then become powerless and 
impotent ; the life that is in it being like the light of the 
moon, not its own, but derived from a source indepen- 
dent of itself. 

What then are the props of Slavery ? They may 
be divided into two classes, political, and religious 
ones ; or in other words, both church and state may 
be regarded as sustaining the dreadful system. It is 
recorded in history, that at one entrance to a certain 
island there was stationed an immense brazen statue 
astride the water which lay before the island ; and 
that there was no ingress to the city, except by sailing 
betwixt the legs of this statue, each foot of which 
rested on a promontory of the island. Imagine, then, 
the great giant Slavery standing with one foot on the 
American Church, and the other on the Union, requir- 
ing all wishing to enter the port of popularity and 
renown, to run this gauntlet, and you have a faint 
idea of Slavery. It plants its right foot firmly on the 
government of the United States, and receives its prin- 
cipal support from that ; but to make its foothold firm 
and sure, it extends its left foot to the Church, and 
there finds additional support. Without these two 
props, it cannot exist a moment. 

But let us see if it is true that it exists by the power 
of these two institutions. 1st. Does the church give 
it any support ? We would bring no railing accusa- 
tions against the church ; all we wish to know is, does 
it render any support to Slavery ? It will not be 
questioned, that in the slave-holding States Slavery is 
sanctioned by the church. Every one knows that 
slave-holding is no disqualification for church member- 
ship, throughout the entire South. Very few minis- 
ters refuse to hold Slaves, and neither ministers nor 



ABOLISH 5LAVERT. 



church members are ever censured for the act. The 
author has resided several years in two Slave States, 
and knows this to be the fact. He travelled and 
preached constantly, and was therefore in the families 
of a large number of religious people; and he never 
knew of a case where slave-holding was spoken of as 
rendering a man unfit for church membership. He 
was at m3ny revivals of religion, and never knew a 
word said to any of the converts about giving up their 
Slaves, except what he said himself. Slave-holding 
was considered no more inconsistent with Christianity, 
than hiring servants is at the North. No man dreamed 
of giving up his Slaves beeause of his conversion. 
Slave-holders were the most prominent men in the 
churches ; elders, deacons, class-leaders, stewards, and 
ministers. Of course if the church consider it right, 
the people generally will ; for who ever heard of a 
purer public sentiment, than what the church approves 
of. Streams never rise higher than their fountains; 
and, of course, as the fountain of morals in any com- 
munity is always its religion, never than the religion 
of that country. It is idle to expect the com- 
munity to be better than its religious teachers ; there- 
fore such teachers are always regarded as more pure 
than the mass of the people. And the very idea of a 
church, is a company of people professing more purity 
than others ; of course whatever sin is practised in 
accordance with the will of the church, will be by the 
rest of the community. If adultery was considered no 
disqualification for church membership, how long 
would it be before the land would be full of adulterers ? 
It is plain that whatever sin takes refuge in the bosom 
of the church, will be practised by the world ; there- 
fore all attempls to correct any great evil are useless, 
as long as the church upholds them, and at the same 
time possesses any power. Take, for instance, intem- 
perance. What a mighty argument it was in opposi- 
tion to temperance, that church members made, sold 
and drank rum? And if this practice was followed 



8 THE WAY TO 

universally by church members now, as it once was, 
what hope would there be of the progress of the tem- 
perance enterprise ? As Christ says, " if the light that 
is in the world be darkness, how great is that dark- 
ness." The church lays claim to being the represen- 
tation of Christianity, the embodiment of virtue. It 
says, " we are holy and inspired ; if you speak against 
us you blaspheme God, for we are his children." 

Then, of course, if it upholds Slavery, it says that it 
is a good and divine institution ; perfectly adapted to 
promote the welfare of mankind. If the church for- 
bade the practice of slave-holding, as it does those of 
drunkenness, adultery, theft and murder, and excom- 
municated those practising it, as it does those guilty of 
the above sins, the case would be far different, even if 
its members were in the habit secretly of practising it. 
If it even preached against Slavery, it would be a dif- 
ferent matter ; but instead of that, we have ministers 
justifying it from the Bible, and exhorting Slaves to 
obey their masters, because God requires it, and 
threatening them with hell, if thev disobev them. 
Then we have the spectacle of a large church at the 
South, seceding from its northern brethren, because the 
latter did not like to have a bishop hold Slaves ! They 
would not remain in connection with a church at all 
opposed to Slavery. 

But all this you may say does not apply to the north- 
ern churches. Well, if the northern churches counte- 
nance the southern in slave-holding, it certainly does. 
If they recognize them as Christian churches, receive 
their ministers as Christian ministers, and forbear re- 
proving them for their sins, then is the northern church 
guilty of upholding Slavery. And it gives a double 
sanction to it ; for it says we believe Slavery is not in- 
compatible with Christian character ; and we have been 
brought up away from its influence. It does more 
to support the vile system, than even southern 
churches themselves ; for southerners expect those 
brought up under the influence of Slavery, will think 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. if 

it lawful ; but when they see churches living away 
from its place of existence, countenancing it and fel- 
lowshipping it, they conclude at once it cannot be 
wrong. Why the churches of the North should coun- 
tenance it, what motive they have in so doing, is not 
for us to say now. The great and appalling fact 
stands out before the world, that there is scarcely a 
church throughout the whole of the free North, but 
what is in some way in fellowship with Slavery. If 
they do not fellowship southern churches, they do 
northern churches, which give the right hand of fellow- 
ship to southern ones. And where is the church at 
the North, the members of which are all out-spoken 
Abolitionists ? Is there scarcely a church where " no 
union with slave-holders " is made a test of admission ? 
We have never heard of but one, and that the church 
of the Covenanters in Pennsylvania. To be sure, the 
Wesleyans will not recognise the southern churches, 
as Christians ; but they will fellowship those that do; 
exchange with their ministers, and receive their mem- 
bers, and more than all, allow their members to vote 
for slave-holders, even for Gen. Taylor ! Certainly, 
no church can be Anti-Slavery which has members 
who voted for that king of southern slave-holders ! That 
this is true, witness the case of Seth Spragne, of Dux- 
bury, who is a Wesleyan, and made almost the first 
speech in favor of Gen. Taylor made in the State. 
But all our churches contain such men, and certainly 
are upholding Slavery. Witness the great number 
of ministers in this State, who voted for Gen. 
Taylor. Drs. of Divinity, as well as those less hon- 
orable ; and some illuminated their houses in honor 
of his election, as in the case of Dr. E., of Salem. 
Others preached sermons in favor of the act, as in the 
case of Dr. S., of North Brooklield. Probably there is 
scarcely a church throughout New England, all the 
members of which, who voted at all, voted against the 
extension of Slavery. 

Before proceeding to comment upon the guilt of the 
church, in this respect, let us for one moment consider 



10 



THE WAY TO 



the terrible situation of the poor Slave, as hurried 
from his family, he is transferred to the chain-gang of 
a negro driver, to be transported to California, or New- 
Mexico. " Husband, where are you going ? " plain- 
tively enquires the sorrow-stricken wife, as he is 
knocked off upon the auction block to the highest bid- 
der, and returns to bid farewell to his companion. 
" Wife, I know not ! Farewell ' farewell ! " responds 
the sobbing husband ; and away he is hurried from 
her presence, and perhaps beaten for speaking to his 
wife. An eye witness of these scenes, and one who 
has himself been separated from his mother, says he 
has known the driver beat with sticks the husband and 
wife as they clung around each other's necks, just be- 
fore parting. The author at one time, while travelling 
in Kentucky, met a Slave who seemed very much de- 
jected. He stopped and asked him what the matter 
was. "Oh," said he, " I have been to take leave of 
my wife, who has just been sent off to Missouri to live 
with my young mistress, lately married, and I never 
expect to see her again, as long as I live ! " 

What must be the humanity of these persons who 
cannot feel for the poor Slave in such conditions 
as these ? No one denies that these things continually 
happen at the South ; and yet but little sympathy is 
excited in consequence. The hearts of the people 
have become as hard as adamant. Their sensibilities 
are totally blunted. They are destitute of all feeling. 

What a picture has just been presented before this 
nation ! A new territory, free from Slavery, demands 
protection from its awful curse. A large majority of 
all the people in the United States, treat this prayer 
with contempt, and virtually say it shall not be granted 
by voting for candidates for the presidency, known to 
be in favor of its admission there. Here the mangled 
victims of Slavery, have these 50 years, lain bleeding 
upon the plantations of the South, loudly calling upon 
our government to desist from protecting their cruel 
masters ; but their cries have been stifled by the 



ABOLISH SLAVER*. 11 

clamor of noisy politicians, who have talked of the ne- 
cessity of preserving our glorious Union, at whatever 
expense to the crushed and manacled Slave. 

A new era seemed about to commence. The ques- 
tion is obtruded upon the whole country, and becomes 
the pivot upon which the presidential election is made 
to turn. Shall these cries of three millions of Slaves 
be made louder and more acute, or shall a barrier be 
interposed between them, and all increase of their suf- 
ferings ? Shall Mexico be the slough of despondency, 
into whose terrible mire shall be cast the gasping 
Slave, and a new mart, be opened for the gratification 
of men who examine the bodies of their victims, as a 
man does a horse he is about to purchase, and women 
as well as men ; or shall a sword of cherubic power, 
guard all entrance to this country, as the angel's 
sword protected the garden of Eden ? 

This was the question brought before the people of 
this country at the last election, and how was it de- 
cided ? Let history shrink back astonished as she 
pens the degrading fact, that the whole country was 
rocked with emotion, and reeled with the mighty efforts 
put forth, to place a man in the presidential chair 
known to be in favor of this extension. It needs no 
argument to prove the turpitude of such a people. 
Their guilt is self-evident, their hypocrisy glaring. It 
stares all the world in its face, like the lurid flames of 
hell, ascending from their subterranean enclosure. 
Guilt, did we say ? There are no terms in the Eng- 
lish language sufficiently strong to describe the wick- 
edness of this transaction ; and yet the church jiartici- 
pated in it. No warning voice was heard from her 
public bodies arousing her members to opposition to 
this direful deed. On the contrary, many of her min- 
isters volunteered to help forward the accursed trans- 
action. The piety of Gen. Taylor was vouched for 
by reverend fathers in God ; and saints of the most 
high, were found bowing in reverential adoration be- 
fore this Juggernaut. Few and far between were the 



12 THE WAY TO 

voices of single ministers, in opposition to this course ; 
and now that the deed is done, who exclaims against 
it ? Who comes out from the churches where these 
guilty men rule ? Who refuses to hear ministers 
preach or pray who voted for Gen. Taylor? What 
society has yet dismissed its minister for so doing ? 
What church has passed resolutions in opposition to 
the recognition of such men as Christian ministers ? 
Why, a highway robber has as good a claim to the 
character of a Christian minister, as one has who voted 
for Gen. Taylor. 

We have yet to learn of the first church ejecting a 
member for this flagitious transaction ; and yet voting 
for Taylor is as much worse than common stealing, as 
a man is of more value than a beast or a dollar. By 
voting for a slave-holding warrior, you say that Slave- 
ry is right, reputable, and worthy of praise. Instead 
of frowning upon the slave-holder, as you would upcn 
the horse-thief, you elevate him to the highest office 
in your gift; thus doing all in your power to render 
slave-holding honorable. It is just as great a crime to 
aid in elevating a slave-holder to the presidency, as it 
is to hold Slaves. It does more to uphold Slavery ; 
for it says we will heap the highest honors of society 
upon slave-holders. We will place them where all 
their influence can be used to strengthen the system ; 
and it serves to shut the mouths of Anti-Slavery men ; 
for it will not do to cry out against slave-holders as 
robbers, when our President is a slave-holder. 

Besides this, a very large portion of the church cast 
their votes for a man pledged to go for the extension 
of Slavery, although not nominally a slave-holder. 
Gen. Cass justified the extension of Slavery, and argu- 
ed in favor of the unconstitutionality of prohibiting its 
extension ; and thousands of votes were cast for him, 
by church members. To their praise be it said, many 
church members and ministers refused to vote for 
either of these men ; but what action have they taken 
in their churches in reference to those who did ? If 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 13 

such acts as these are to be passed over in silence, 
then is the sanction of the church given to slave-hold- 
ing, and the extension of Slavery. Recollect that 
the question was not, should Slavery exist at all ? on 
that question there might have been some excuse for 
inaction ; but it was should it be extended over a terri- 
tory nearly half as large as the whole of the United 
States ? It would seem as if Christians could not have 
hesitated a moment on this point ; as if the whole host 
of God's elect, as the church claims to be, would have 
been marshalled in battle array against the myrmidons 
of the slave-power. But no, a death like silence per- 
vades the entire church upon this point. It matters not 
to her whether Slavery " covers the earth, as the wa- 
ters cover the sea," or not. Her " mission is to let it 
alone." To cry out against gambling, whoredom, 
Sabbath breaking, and such unpopular sins, is her 
duty ; but to advance before public opinion, and cre- 
ate a purer one, is no part of her work. She is so 
engaged in saving souls, she has no time to attend to 
the bodies of the people. But seriously, is it not a 
terrible state of things when the churches of our land 
are asleep over such a dreadful evil ? When the voice 
of the watchman is but faintly heard, if at all, in re- 
buke of the most heaven daring of crimes ? We ap- 
peal to all who are in the habit of attending church. 
Does your minister every Sunday, exclaim against the 
horrid enormities of extending Slavery, to say nothing 
of it where it now is ? Do you hear from his lips as 
severe denunciations of those engaged in this wicked 
business, as fell from the lips of Jesus Christ, as he 
reproved the oppressors of his day ? No, you do not, 
only occasionally. It is considered a rare instance of 
courage if a minister dares to rebuke his people for 
having voted for Gen. Taylor ? 

What, then, is to be done in the matter ? That 
the church at the North upholds Slavery can no longer 
be denied, for she goes farther, and upholds its exten- 
sion ; yea, farther yet, she countenances fighting for 
2 



14 THE WAY TO 

its increased power, murdering men, women and chil- 
dren, that it may exist, where it could not without this 
fighting. O, shame on a church having in its folds a 
single member who cast a vote for that most wicked of 
men — Gen. Zachary Taylor ! But declamation will 
avail nothing without action. We propose a reme- 
dy for all this wickedness. We call upon all true 
friends of the Slave to leave those churches where 
ministers or members voted for Taylor or Cass. 
Further, we invite you all to make a critical examina- 
tion of your relations to Southern slave-holding church- 
es, and see if your associations, your conferences, or 
your conventions, are not in league with slave-holders, 
or with those who are allied with them. If you belong 
to a church not having a single member in it who 
voted for Taylor or Cass; yet if your church fellow- 
ships those churches having such members, are you not 
a pro-slavery church ? To fellowship the churches 
who retain pro-slavery voters, is to say that such voting 
is not wrong. But if you cut loose from all such rela- 
tions, do you not fellowship northern churches, who 
have slave-holders themselves in their bounds ; for in- 
stance the northern Methodist Church, having still 
slave-holding members? 

But if you are clear from all such connections, there 
is still another point we beg leave to submit to your 
serious consideration, which brings us to the second 
great pillar the statue of Slavery stands upon. You 
have seen the influence given to the system by the 
church ; now look at the power given to it by the 
Government. This is the principal foothold of the 
dreadful system. Destroy this prop, and Slavery falls ; 
but before advancing to this position in our argument, 
let us see for a moment how Slavery is acknowledged 
by law ; for it is in this relation we are about to con- 
template it. 

The Government of the United States creates no 
Slaves ; it only recognises as lawful the Slavery exist- 
ing in the several States, or to use the words of the 
Constitution, " hold to service or labor, under the laws 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 15 

thereof." The laivs of the several slave-holding 
States are made the standard for the general govern- 
ment's action upon this subject. No quibble can pos- 
sibly evade this, for it is not necessary to prove that a 
runaway Slave justly owes service to his master, but 
only if he does, under the the laws of his master. 
The master has made certain laws, claiming his Slaves 
as absolute property ; the Constitution says, " per- 
sons owing service under these laws," shall be return- 
ed, thus making the most complete provision for the 
support of the system. The laws of the State in 
which the claimant lives, are the rule to go by, not the 
feelings of the judge, respecting the abstract question of 
the possibility of one human being owing compulsory 
service to another. It is just as much a violation of his 
oath, for a judge to refuse to deliver a Slave proved to 
be such, under the laws of the State, without " a bill 
of sale from the Almighty," as the Vermont judge 
did, as it would be to refuse to deliver the Slave with 
the bill of sale from the Almighty. If it is the bond 
that we contend for so strictly, as the Jew did for the 
pound of flesh, we must abide by the bond, which 
says, not if the Almighty furnishes a bill of sale, shall 
the Slave be delivered up ; but if the laws of the State 
say he is a Slave. The recent decision of judge Ed- 
monds in behalf of Belt, the most favorable one on 
record, fully recognises this principle ; and Belt owes 
his liberty not so much to the humanity of the judge, 
as to the absence of positive proof that the laws of 
Maryland uphold Slavery. A copy of the Slave laws 
of Maryland was produced, but it only said published 
by authority, and not by the authority of the legisla- 
ture, therefore Belt was allowed to go free. The 
omission of one word in a book, saved Belt from the 
jaws of Slavery, more than any other thing. To be 
sure, it was proved that the master did not take legal 
steps after the seizure of Belt, and therefore had no 
right to him ; but the main reason for his discharge 
was, not the wrongfulness of delivering him up, not 
because God had given Lee no bill of sale, but be- 



16' THE WAY TO 

cause a lawyer could not swear that a certain book 
was the laws of Maryland ! 

From this decision there is no appeal, until a higher 
authority has decided differently. All that a slave- 
hunter has to do, is merely to bring an attested copy 
of the laws of the State, in which he lives, and prove 
that in such a State he held the person claimed as 
his Slave, and there is no redress for the panting fugi- 
tive. He must be returned to his former bondage, 
without any power to protect him from the punish- 
ment his master may choose to inflict upon him in 
consequence of his escape. Thus is Slavery legalized 
by our laws ; and if we cannot expect a higher stand- 
ard of morality than what the church upholds, cer- 
tainly we cannot expect practices to cease, which the 
government pronounces lawful. People are not gen- 
erally so much in advance of their laws and religion, 
as to refuse to perpetrate what those laws and that 
religion justify, and pronounce honorable. Thus the 
whole influence of jurisprudence, and church action, 
is thrown around Slavery. Is it any wonder, that it 
exists in so much power, and now seeks to extend its 
sway over new territory ? What then is necessary to 
be done to remove this prop from under the colossal 
statue of Slavery ? Plainly, to repeal all laws recognis- 
ing its existence. Do this, and refuse to obey any of 
the claims of the South in reference to this matter, 
and Slavery ceases as soon as the earth would cease 
to turn upon its axis, if the Almighty should remove 
his hand from the crank of the mighty wheel. Or to 
drop all figure, as soon as the Slaves should arise and 
assert their liberty ; which would be almost instantly, 
if it were not for the North. We are so hemmed in 
now by compromises and promises, that even in the 
act of voting not to extend Slavery, we unconsciously 
pledge ourselves to sustain it where it now exists. 

But let us examine another point a \ew moments. 
What gives 250,000 slave-holders power to hold 
3,000,000 of Slaves in bondage ? Not the power of 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 



17 



non-slave-holders at the South, for they could not be 
relied on, in case of an insurrection. They suffer so 
much now in consequence of the degradation Slavery 
attaches to labor, and are so impoverished by its influ- 
ence, that few and faint would be the blows they 
would strike in behalf of slave-holders; as a body 
they are envious of the slave-holders, and would like 
to see him deprived of all his Slaves. They gain 
nothing by the existence of Slavery, but on the con- 
trary suffer much ; for the labor of Slaves is so cheap, 
that their services are not demanded ; and they are 
not respected as a general thing, except in those 
sections of country where but a few slave-holders re- 
side. What motive have they to put down a Slave 
insurrection ? There is not a man of them but would 
be more independent than the present slave-holders, 
if Slavery was abolished ; for there is so much land 
lying idle at the South, that the Slaves after emanci- 
pation would be under no necessity of working for 
their former masters. It would not be with them as 
it is with the free laborer of the North ; for their pow- 
er would be so great, that they could take possession 
of the best plantations, and leave their masters to look 
out for themselves; and the latter being unused to 
labor would be miserably off, which would reduce them 
to a worse condition, than that of the poor whites, 
who would immediately become the aristocracy of the 
South. In fact, if an insurrection of the Slaves should 
take place, there is not much doubt but it would be 
encouraged by the non-slave-holders of the South. 
Who, then, give the 250,000 slave-holders of the 
South their power ? Let the winds of heaven answer, 
as they blow across the fertile fields of the South, and 
waft the scent of the cotton, rice and sugar planta- 
tions, to the nostrils of the money-loving northerners. 
Let the cargoes of bleached cottons and handsome 
prints, slave-tools, hats, boots and shoes, whiskey, and 
all other northern goods, as they sail into southern 
ports, testify. Let the ships freighted with produce 
2* 



18 THE WAY TO 

from one southern port to another, the great carrying 
trade, for which our fathers bartered their virtue, 
loudly respond. There goes not a vessel from the 
North to Savannah, Charleston or New Orleans, but 
it carries within its timbers and on its decks, proof to 
the slave-holder of northern readiness to sustain him 
in his foul business. In proof of this, let me ask who 
voted for Taylor at the recent election more than the 
great merchants of the North ? Did not capitalists 
universally cry out, " Great is Zachary Taylor ! " Was 
not Abbott Lawrence, the prince of northern manufac- 
turers, loudest in his professions of zeal for " Old 
Zach ? " Go throughout our country, up and down 
all its cities and villages, and enquire who in those 
places voted for Taylor, and you will be told that the 
great manufacturers, the rich merchants of those towns 
and cities did. That they poured out their ill-gotten 
gains in behalf of Gen. Taylor's election ; that the 
South might be pleased, and northern industry pro- 
tected 1 Perish the word industry from the vocabu- 
lary of man, if this is the basis upon which it rests. 
What ! northern industry only protected by electing 
the greatest of idlers to the presidential chair ? Who 
feels less sympathy for northern workingmen than the 
man who drives three hundred laborers to their daily 
toil, with the crack of the whip sounding in their ears, 
and who robs them of nearly all their earnings, and 
forces them to live in a state of prostitution ? Is such 
a man a friend to the rights of northern laborers ? 

But it is these pretended friends of home industry, 
which means any thing but their own industry, who 
stand pledged to support the South. It is they who 
are so anxious to see Slavery extended, because they 
can sell as, they think, a few more goods for the use 
of the newly imported Slaves ! Yes, they are ready, as 
one friend of the Slave has remarked, " to annex them- 
selves to perdition, if by so doing, they could sell cot- 
ton cloth to its inhabitants for six cents a yard." 
They are unwilling to have Slavery abolished, for that 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 10 

would open one of the finest countries in the world, 
to the ingress of free laborers, who could manufacture 
their own goods, and would not purchase so many of 
Abbott Lawrence & Co., as they at present send to 
the South. But they are short sighted even in this ; 
for the abolition of Slavery would open a market for 
many more goods than could be manufactured South, 
which would enrich the North much more than her 
present losing trade with the South does. They do 
not comprehend this problem, for if they did, the Cou- 
riers, Daily Advertisers, and Atlases, would be filled to 
overflowing with denunciations of Slavery, just as 
they were of the Mexican War, when political capital 
could be made out of such denunciations. Then the 
tariff must be upheld, or the North will go to ruin, 
and they hope to obtain the aid of the South in this 
matter, by assisting them to sustain Slavery. The 
great body of northern manufacturers, care as little for 
the existence of Slavery, as they do for the sufferings 
of men perishing on the scaffold, for crimes against 
law and order. 

They are almost wholly selfish, as is evinced by the 
character of the men they set up for office. They 
care not whether 3,000,000 of Slaves clank their 
chains in their hearing or not, so long as the busy 
hum of their cotton-mills at Lowell and Manchester, 
and the noise of their trip-hammers in Pennsylvania, are 
heard to resound above these cries. The music of silver 
dollars rattling in their vaults, as drawer after drawer 
is deposited by their cashiers, is sufficiently beautiful 
to them, to operate as an offset against the shrieks and 
waitings of the Slaves. What though the Lord of 
Sabbaoth lends a listening ear to the sobs of the bond- 
men, it matters not to them, as long as the gold clinks 
in their chests. All heaven may cease its songs of 
joy, to listen to the shrieks of the Slave ; but worlds 
of Slaves might shriek and groan, until the noise shook 
old earth from its foundations, and sounded in the ears 
of saints like the sound of " many waters" to tho 



20 THE WAY TO 

apostle John ; and these men would not turn from the 
dull music of their water-wheels, or the clatter of their 
spinning-jennies. Indeed, it is a question, whether 
they would turn from their tables of discount, and 
their columns of bank stock, if God himself should 
speak from heaven, and request sympathy from them. 
Sympathy ! they have none ! Their hearts are made 
of silver and gold, polished to an icy coldness. If the 
blood of the slave-driver's lash should increase until it 
flowed over the entire South, and turned to red the color 
of the element upon which their ships sailed ; it would 
not mar the harmony between them and the South, 
until it rusted the bottom of their vessels, and rendered 
them unfit lor the carrying trade. 

To be sure all the people who, vote aid these cotton 
lords in sustaining Slavery ; but let them pursue a 
different course ; let the leaders of the two great po- 
litical parties of the North, adopt another principle 
than that of subserviency to the slave-power, and the 
people would not long object. The result of the last 
election has fully shown the willingness of the people 
to adopt the watch-word of their party, whatever it 
may be, and it would be arguing a great amount of 
villany on their part to suppose, that they would re- 
fuse to follow them in the paths of righteousness, when 
they clung so closely to them, as they took the most 
conspicuous part of the broad road. Certainly the 
great body of the Whigs and Democrats, would not 
refuse to travel towards heaven, if their leaders should 
say so, when they have sprung with such alacrity to 
join them in the road to hell. How it would be with 
the rank and file of the Free Soil party we know not. 
As they have shown a readiness to burst party bonds, 
these would not operate upon them so much ; but 
charity prompts us to believe, that if the leaders of this 
party were to propose the measure of a secession from 
the Union, the Anti-Slavery feeling of their followers 
would willingly respond to the call. It is then to the 
leaders of both church and state, that the rebuke of 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 21 

Nathan to David applies, " thou art the man." It is 
the prominent men in all parties who are to blame for 
the existence of Slavery. 

A word now respecting the abolition of the laws 
which uphold Slavery ; or in other words in regard to 
the amendment of the Constitution. If this can be 
carried out without dissolving the Union, we should 
like to know it ; but how can it ? What is it to alter 
the Constitution, but in fact to dissolve the Union ? 
The Constitution is the bond of Union ; the instru- 
ment which binds the North and South together. 
How, then, can you change it, in its important features, 
without, for the time being, dissolving the Union be- 
tween the North and South ? Let us see. A propo- 
sal is made to Congress for an alteration of the Con- 
stitution, in respect to Slavery. That is, the North is 
tired of the bargain she made through her fathers with 
the South, and wishes a new one. Of course, if this 
new bargain is made, the old one must be declared no 
longer binding ; and we have virtually a dissolution of 
the Union, although a re-union may have followed. 
This shows that the dissolution of the Union will not 
necessarily create civil war, any more than the passage 
of any other law by Congress. 

The great question is, how shall this alteration of the 
Constitution be brought about ? Of course, as long as 
we assert that it is good enough already, we shall not 
wish to change it ; therefore we must first be convinced 
of its wicked character, which we hope all our readers 
are convinced of by this time ; but as some of them may 
not be, we will dwell awhile on this point. No intelligent 
• man will deny that it was the intention of our fathers to 
sustain Slavery. Mr. Lysander Spooner himself ad- 
mits it. Sufficient proof exists of this fact to satisfy 
every reasonable mind. Almost all politicians admit 
it, certainly all honest ones. No one doubts that our 
fathers meant to uphold Slavery, when they adopted 
the Constitution ; and the question now with us is, not 
so much the technical meaning of the Constitution, as 



22 THE WAT TO 

its real import. We know that honesty always leads 
us to decide upon the meaning of an author, by under- 
standing the circumstances under which he wrote. 
For instance, if an editor speaks of " fighting earnest- 
ly " in the approaching campaign ; he would be deemed 
a very dishonest man, who should assert from the 
authority of this language, that the editor recom- 
mended physical fighting, and was in favor of blood- 
shed ; but he would be no more so, it seems to us, 
than one who knowing what our fathers were debating 
about, should contend that they did not mean Slaves, 
because they said "persons held to service." Of 
course, being partners in the guilt of the transaction, 
they did not wish to brand themselves with infamy, by 
inserting the word Slaves, any more than the duellist 
is willing to term himself a murderer, instead of " a gen- 
tleman of honor ; " or a lewd woman a harlot, instead 
of " a lady of pleasure." 

Intoxication is alluded to, by its victims, in various 
genteel terms, instead of the plain one — drunkenness ; 
and robbing and stealing on the ocean in time of war 
is termed by the mild name of privateering. So with 
all villany. Robbers are only lightening the pockets 
of their victims ; thieves only picking up the crumbs 
of the rich ; and slave-holders are only masters ; Slaves, 
u persons held to service," or " other persons," or 
something else, to hide the shame of the guilty ones. 
Go to the South, and you will never hear the word 
Slave spoken ; but it is " my people," " my boy," 
" my girl," &c. If you go so strictly by names, you 
might never know by living at the South, that they 
consider their servants Slaves. 

What, then, did our fathers mean, by "other per- 
sons ? " The clause reads as follows: 

" Representatives and direct taxes, shall be apportioned * * by ad- 
ding to the whole number of free persons, including those bound to 
service for a term of years, and excluding Indians not taxed, three- 
fifths of all other persons." 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 23 

Our enquiry is not what the Constitution can be made to 
mean, but what is the natural and fair import of its 
language ? Of course, we can pervert the meainng of 
any instrument, and by false reasoning and wordy con- 
troversy, make black appear white, and vice versa. 
When I say "John, come to dinner," to a fair, impar- 
tial listener, my meaning would appear plain ; but to 
a technical quibbler, I might be made to be a great ty- 
rant. For instance, I assert authority. I utter a com- 
mand. I do not ask John to come to dinner, but I 
require him to come, and a long argument might be 
entered into to prove my tyrannical nature, such as 
that I was forcing John to eat whether he wished to or 
not ; that I required him to eat a good deal, a dinner, 
instead of a little, and above all, that I was disposed to 
force him to obey me. By such reasoning, the kind- 
est of parents might be proved to be severe and hard- 
hearted. On the contrary, if I say " dinner is ready, 
John," the same quibbler might accuse me of indiffer- 
ence to my child's welfare, that I did not care whether 
he came or not, and so on. 

Now in all these cases, that sterling quality, com- 
mon sense, is to be brought into requisition. When I 
promise to carry my friend to ride to-morrow, unfore- 
seen accidents are of course considered as an excuse 
for the non-fulfilment of my promise ; but Mr. Lysan- 
der Spooner, in behalf of my friend, might enter an 
action in law against me ; for there are my words in 
writing, " I will take you to ride to-morrow ; " but 
common sense would excuse me, if my horse should 
be sick, or my carriage be stolen. Mr. Spooner argues 
like an earnest man, to prove that these expressions do 
not mean Slaves, because they cannot be proved to 
have reference to such a class, by the exact meaning 
of the words. " The word free is not the correlative of 
Slavery ; for a variety of reasons," he says. He thinks 
" all persons" mean aliens. Now, what an absur- 
dity. Who ever heard of three-fifths of the aliens 
in each State being added to the naturalized citizens 



24 THE WAT TO 

in making out the apportionment of representatives? 
How many representatives have seats in Congress, in 
consequence of aliens residing in their districts ? Not 
one, and yet twenty-five men are seated there, in con- 
sequence of Slaves residing in their districts. It is a 
burning shame for a man to prostitute such noble pow- 
ers of thought as Mr. Spooner possesses, to such a sil- 
ly and contemptible mode of reasoning. Why, if his 
arguments are correct, all poetry and figures of speech 
are wrong ; all metaphorical language, and personifi- 
cations in writing are out of place ; and nothing is 
left us but plain, straight forward words, which have a 
precise meaning, and can mean nothing else. If I say 
" the wind blows/' I lie, for wind is an action of some- 
thing else, and, of course, it is absurd to talk of its 
blowing. If I say " I am in pain," it is not true, for 
the pain is in me ; and if I talk of God's moving the 
world by his arm, it is false, for he has no arm. If I 
say " the giant of Slavery stalks abroad, over our land," 
it is false, for there is no such moving thing as Slavery, 
for Slavery is merely the term applied to a particular 
act of a man ; but who accuses me of falsehood in 
speaking of these things ? To put the strictest literal 
construction upon every word of the Constitution, 
would involve us in some of J. C. Calhoun's criticisms, 
such as men not being born, and not being born equal, 
&c. 

Let us follow Mr. Spooner's idea a little, in relation 
to free persons, meaning naturalized citizens. Mr. 
Spooner says that all the State Constitutions, at the 
time of the adoption of the U. S. Constitution, used 
this word in no other sense than the one signified in 
the English law, and of course that the U. S. Constitu- 
tion used the word in that sense only. This argument, 
if it proves anything, proves too much ; and we appre- 
hend will operate fully as much against Mr. S.'s idea, 
as in favor of it. According to this law, the word 
free, Mr. S. assures us, means " persons possessing cit- 
izenship, or some other franchise or peculiar privilege, 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 25 

as distinguished from aliens, and persons not possessed 
of such franchise or privilege." Then the word free 
in this instance, must mean only the opposite of aliens. 
Aliens are those not entitled to vote, or to hold office. 
These are, I believe, the only privileges which they 
are debarred from. Then as the word free, means 
those possessing the privileges which aliens do not pos- 
sess, it cannot mean either women or children, for they 
do not possess either of these privileges. 

Thus, according to this definition, free persons are 
only voters and apprentices, and " all other persons," 
are foreigners not naturalized, and women and child- 
ren. But Slaves do not possess, and never have pos- 
sessed these " peculiar privileges," always having been 
debarred from the right of voting and holding office, 
and surely cannot rank as the opposites of aliens, any 
more than women and children, and therefore come 
under the head of " all other persons." If free per- 
sons are the opposite of aliens, and aliens are those 
deprived of peculiar privileges, then none can be free 
persons who do not possess these privileges. But 
Slaves never have been known to possess them, there- 
fore they cannot be free persons. Free persons, Mr. 
Spooner says, are those possessing some franchise or 
privilege which aliens do not. Now, in the name of 
common sense, we ask what privileges have Slaves 
ever possessed, which aliens do not ? Let their scarred 
backs, gaping wounds, and broken limbs answer. 
Slaves possessing privileges ! and yet this is the defi- 
nition Mr. Spooner chooses to give to the word free : 
" Persons possessing citizenship, or some other fran- 
chise or privilege, not possessed by aliens." 

But a few words from the original adopters of the 
Constitution will settle this whole difficulty. Says 
Alexander Hamilton in the New York convention : 

" The first thing objected to, is that clause which allows a repre- 
sentation for three-fifths of the negroes. * * Without this indulgence 
no union could possibly have been formed.' ' 
3 



26 THE WAY TO 

In Virginia, Mr. Madison said : 

"Another clause secures to us that property which we now pos= 
sess. At present, if any Slave elopes to any of those States where 
Slaves are free, he becomes emancipated by their laws. For the 
laws of the States are uncharitable to one another in this respect. 
But in this Constitution, ' no person held to service or labor in one 
State, under the laws thereof, escaping into another, shall in con- 
sequence of any law or regulation therein, be discharged from such 
service or labor ; but shall be delivered up on claim of the party to 
whom such service or labor may be due.' This clause was expressly 
inserted to enable owners of Slaves to reclaim them. This is a bet- 
ter security than any that now exists." 

Gen. Pinkney in the South Carolina convention, 
observed : 

" We have obtained a right to recover our Slaves in whatever 
part of America they may take refuge, which is a right we had not 
before." 

But the great question after all, is not what the Con- 
stitution says in words, but what use is made of it ? 
If it is a suitable one for a free nation, it could not be 
capable of such an awful perversion as has been made 
of it by the legislation of the country ever since its 
adoption, Mr. Spooner's idea being correct. If it is 
Anti-Slavery, it is the first Anti-Slavery document, 
and the only one, Calhoun &, Co. were ever known to 
cherish and swear by. How remarkably keen-sighted 
must these wily southerners be, not to detect the Anti- 
Slavery spirit of the Constitution ; and be hugging an 
abolition monster, when they fancy they are pressing to 
their bosoms their own bill of rights to hold Slaves. 
The southerners are not generally duped this way, and 
it is strange they should be so much so, in this case. 
For our own part, the very fact that the Constitution is 
valued so highly by the South, casts a shadow of 
suspicion over it, and induces us to reject it as an 
Anti-Slavery instrument. The South excludes even 
Sunday school books, tainted with Anti-Slavery, and 
poems alluding to freedom, are hardly allowed a circu- 
lation there ; how strange then, that this great magna 
charta of human liberty should be so eulogised by them. 
The fact is, it suits them well. They never have com- 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 27 

plained of its not being pro-slavery enough, but have 
always rested satisfied with it, as their supporter and 
guide ; and yet northern Anti-Slavery men will talk of 
its being an Anti-Slavery instrument. As well might 
the robber press to his bosom the precepts of Jesus 
Christ, or the gambler and drunkard, works on moral- 
ity, as the slave-holder the Constitution, if he believed 
it Anti-Slavery. 

We are aware of all that can be said in favor of in- 
dependence of mind ; we would by no means wish to 
bind any man down to the opinions of the past, or to 
say to any bold departure from established usages and 
opinions, " You are wrong, because you differ from 
great and learned men ; " but still we would ask, if 
the Constitution is as Anti-Slavery as Mr. Spooner as- 
serts it to be, how happens it that such egregious mis- 
takes have been made concerning it ? Can a real 
Anti-Slavery document be so misconstrued, as to sat- 
isfy slave-holders, w 7 ho dread the least appearance of 
Anti-Slavery, as Satan does the truth of God ? We 
will grant for the sake of argument, that it does not 
directly sanction Slavery ; still we assert that it is a 
pro-slavery document for the following reason. Anti- 
Slavery is a bold, outspoken, and unmistakable thing. 
It is " known and read of all men, a living epistle," 
and can be no more mistaken for pro-slavery, than the 
shining of the sun, for total darkness. The difference 
between the two is so great, that they can never be 
mistaken, the one for the other ; or at least genuine 
Anti-Slavery can never be regarded as pro-slavery to 
the full satisfaction of slave-holders. We cast our 
eyes over the history of our country, and from the com- 
mencement of its political existence until the present 
time, we see Slavery justified by the Constitution. 
From the President seated in the chair of State, to the 
representative of the smallest village in the most insig- 
nificant State of the Union ; from the Chief Justice ot 
the Supreme Court of the United States, to the petty 
lawyer and esquire of the country village ; from the 



28 THE WAY TO 

wisest statesman, to the most ignorant politician ; from 
all who ever filled the presidential chair, down to him 
who hopes to fiil it soon ; from politicians of all parties, 
to men who abjure politics ; we hear but one voice 
respecting the character of the Constitution, excepting 
a few persons like our friend Spooner, who seem to be 
disposed, for want of better employment, to test the 
power of their minds in arguing its Anti-Slavery char- 
acter ; as the philosophers of olden times, polished 
their logical weapons in discussing such questions, as 
" Whether God loved a possible unexisting angel, bet- 
ter than an existing insect ; " or " whether an angel in 
travelling from point to point, passed through the inter- 
mediate points ; " and " whether more than one can 
exist in the same space, at the same moment." Those 
mighty enquiries were the intellectual jousts and tourn- 
aments of the age of chivalry and knight errantry. 
Happy will it be for us, if a moral Don Quixotism does 
not intrude itself into our efforts for true reform. There 
is to us a great similarity between that celebrated ge- 
nius's battle with the wind-mill, and our friend's long 
and laborious fight, to prove the Anti-Slavery charac- 
ter of the Constitution ; for after he has made good his 
arguments, and proved, to the demonstration of all, 
that technically the Constitution does not uphold 
Slavery, what good has he accomplished ? He has 
indeed fought the letter, and perhaps come off victori- 
ous ; but does he invalidate its spirit? He rests like 
the knight of olden time, upon the field of chivalric 
combat, with a deep sense of having been engaged in 
mortal warfare ; he has fought hard and valiantly ; but 
alas, his foe still stands as powerful as ever, and not at 
all disposed to yield the field. 

If the Constitution, as we sail across the waters of 
political life, affords us no sure and certain guide, but 
is like a chart, which has always misled the mariner, 
and instead of pointing the way to a city of civilization 
and virtue, has directed him to the rocky shores of 
some cannibal island, of what earthly use is it to us? 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 29 

We are sailing over a troublesome ocean. Dark and 
ominous clouds hang over our vessel. The sky begins 
to gather blackness. The red lightning shoots its lurid 
flashes before our eyes. The thunder utters its dismal 
groan in our ears. The waves begin to lash and foam 
against each other. Our course is uncertain ; but 
amid the gathering darkness, we discern a light-house, 
c'imly visible in the distance. We look upon our 
chart, not knowing where we are. That describes our 
past route, and asserts that a light-house is erected at 
the entrance of the harbor we wish to enter. We con- 
sult our compass. It indeed agrees not with the 
delineations of the chart ; but a lawyer stands at our 
side and proves the correctness of the chart. We ac- 
cordingly steer our vessel towards the light, but to our 
dismay find that it is but a false one, held out by mis- 
erable wreckers. Our chart was wrong. It had mis- 
led us. We tacked about and escaped the snare. 
We were not quite wrecked. Other seamen have ex- 
perienced the same danger, but we still cling to the 
chart. We refuse to cast it from us, and even hearken 
to the suggestions of one who would tell us, that the 
chart is right enough. It is only our wrong way of 
reading it that has led us into danger. We resume 
our voyage, confident that we shall this time avoid all 
harm, for we now know what our chart means. Ac- 
cordingly we hoist all our sails, and proceed in confi- 
dence to our destined haven. But a blacker cloud 
than before casts its dismal shadow over our vessel. 
We can hardly discern the words of our chart. The 
efforts to correct its false interpretations, have so mar- 
red its surface, that we can get no light from it. At 
one moment it seems to direct us as we are now sail- 
ing, then immediately in an almost totally opposite 
course, so that bewildered and confused, we drop it 
entirely. We then look to the unerring needle of our 
compass, and by its undeviating direction to the star 
of hope to the mariner, as well as to the fugitive Slave, 
we are able to keep from destruction, until a correct 
3* 



30 THE WAY TO 

chart is procured — one which admits of no evasion, 
nor contradiction, and by which we are able to steer 
our course, until we reach the haven desired. 

Thus with the Constitution. It has misled us until 
we were well nigh wrecked on the shores of southern 
oppression. We now are not able to discover what it 
does mean. Its literal meaning conflicts with its real 
one. Shall we continue to trust the safety of the ship 
of State to such a Constitution ; one which has misdi- 
rected us long, and the meaning of which all its inter- 
preters have decided erroneously ; or shall we abandon 
it, and trust temporarily to the northern star of hope ; 
to the light which gleams from the hearts of those Anti- 
Slavery men, who are living Anti-Slavery epistles, 
and true apostles of liberty ; to the faithful pointing of 
the needle of principle, as it ever inclines in an oppo- 
site direction from the South, and thus preserve our 
liberties until a true and safe Constitution can be 
adopted ? Shall we trust to the dubious and contra- 
dictory readings of a bit of parchment, composed by 
men like ourselves ; or shall we cut loose from all con- 
nexion with the dangerous islands of human oppres- 
sion lying southward, surrendering our profitable trade 
with worse than cannibals ; and launch our vessel upon 
the high sea of freedom and liberty, away from the 
rocky shores of these islands of death, steering with an 
undeviating course for some northern harbor, where 
we may moor our vessel, and safely land our passen- 
gers ? What is there in the Constitution, after all, so 
much in favor of liberty, as to satisfy the sons of free- 
men ? It may, indeed, do for such freemen as could 
fight for themselves, and yet bind chains upon their 
brethren ; but for those who wish to abjure all oppres- 
sion it will not answer. The constitutions of the true 
sons of liberty must be like their hearts, polished bright- 
ly ; and free from the dust of pro-slavery, as well as 
from its grosser filth. 

But Constitution or no Constitution, it is human lib- 
erty we aro contending for. We cannot stop in our 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 31 

labors for the oppressed, to prove the truthfulness of our 
enemies' weapons. We cannot step aside amid the heat 
and dust of the conflict between light and darkness, to 
read lessons upon legal technicalities. The cries of 
the bleeding bondman sound too loudly in our ears, to 
allow us to deviate from our course so much as to de- 
scend to arguing for the sanctity of human constitu- 
tions. As we hear the noise of the waitings of the 
Slave, and every breeze wafted from the South is la- 
den with the cries of 3,000,000 of stricken ones, how 
can we care whether constitutions or churches, are in 
the way of their emancipation, any more than a mother 
would care for the flames around her, while endeavor- 
ing to rescue her child from a burning dwelling? The 
fires of Slavery, tended by northern priests, and fed by 
northern politicians, have burnt fiercely these many 
years, scorching and blistering even those who stood 
by and watched over them ; the Slave's form has be- 
come almost a blackened corpse ; the little ones of a 
fond mother's love, are already gasping in the agonies 
of death; and the shrieks of the living are reaching 
heaven, while the glaring flames, have illuminated the 
firmament, like the flames of burning Moscow ; and 
shall we turn the streams of the water of life away 
from these terrible flames, because forsooth sacred idols 
block the wheels of our engines ? No, let us rather 
flood them all, Slavery, pro-slavery, churches and con- 
stitutions, with such a deluge of celestial waters, as 
shall as effectually sweep from the land all these sup- 
porters of Slavery, as Noah's flood, removed from the 
earth the sinners of his day. If we would abolish 
Slavery, we must be destructionists. The word has 
gone forth from the mouth of the Almighty, that 
Slavery shall be destroyed. The advancing spirit of 
the age in which we live, has decreed its overthrow ; 
its fate is even now registered on the scroll of destiny, 
which contains the end of all oppression, and we can- 
not thwart this inevitable tendency. Reform has com- 
menced to ride triumphantly across our earth. Error 



32 THE WAY TO 

is fleeing to its native dwellings, in the rocks and caves 
of the earth ; and truth with her holiday dress, is as- 
cending the throne of the hearts of mankind. Truth, 
too long hidden in the fastnesses of the forests, almost 
afraid to exhibit its face, although thickly veiled, is re- 
moving her garb of concealment ; is stepping from her 
wilderness retreat, and is boldly disputing the reign of 
the earth, with the monsters who have so long ruled it, 
but to curse it, and reign over it, but to mar its life. 
Henceforward, although many a long and bloody battle 
is to be fought, between the enemies of God and man ; 
yet truth shall conquer. Man is arousing himself to 
noble deeds. Slavery, that giant of despair, so long 
planted in the road pursued by the pilgrims of truth, 
like Bunyan's gloomy giant of Doubting Castle, is re- 
treating from all its former strongholds. There is 
scarcely a country within the bounds of this green 
earth, upon which the warm sun of heaven sheds its 
benignant rays, but what is delivering itself from this 
foul blot, America only excepted ! Britons and 
French, Danes and Norwegians, Russians and Turks, 
Seminole Indians and Mexicans, Algerines and Tunis- 
ites, themselves, are all casting the execrable system 
from them, as a reproach to their fair names ; but young 
America, loudest in her boasts of purity, freedom and 
piety, is lagging behind. She only, of all the nations of 
the earth, seems unwilling to let the captive go free. 
She who fought for her own liberty, the greatest of 
tyrants, almost the only Pharoah of the earth ! 

But thanks to a few in her borders, even her proud 
heart begins to grow faint ; her limbs tremble slightly, 
and like the mariners in a storm, who rush to the bot- 
tle to drink their fill for the last time, she is growing 
desperate, and drinking more deeply than ever of the 
cup of Slavery, as the last draught she can obtain from 
its noisome fountain. 

Courage, friends of your race ! Let the breath of 
the Almighty inspire you, let his fiat strengthen you ! 
Clothe yourselves in the panoply of truth afresh ; gird 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 33 

on the gospel armor anew, and make a bolder attack 
than ever upon the Bastile of Slavery. This gloomy 
castle, which has so long frowned upon our liberties, 
shall be razed to the ground, and its pining inmates 
set free, to breathe the pure air of liberty. 

Onward, friends of reform ! Remember that " the 
battle is not to the strong, nor the race to the swift 
only, but that stronger is the armor of the Almighty, 
than all the weapons of your enemies. Gird on, not 
the clumsy armor of King Saul, but the " breastplate 
of righteousness, the helmet of salvation, and the 
sword of the spirit," the weapons which are not " car- 
nal, but mighty through God, to the pulling down the 
strong holds of Satan." 

One enquiry more remains for us to answer, which is, 
how shall we dissolve the Union ? It was asserted 
that if the Constitution could be altered without dis- 
solution, such a step would be unnecessary ; but be 
it remembered, that this event can never take place, 
until the South is partly Anti-Slavery. The consent 
of the legislatures of three-fourths of the several 
States, is necessary to accomplish this, and we leave 
it to all candid persons to judge whether there is any 
hope of such consent ever being given. The only reme- 
dy plainly is for us to abjure the Constitution, proclaim 
ourselves free and independent of the South, and or- 
ganize a new and separate government at the North. 

The steps necessary are briefly these. Let a con- 
vention of the people of the Free States in favor of 
this movement be galled ; let the legislatures of the sev- 
eral States withdraw their Representatives and Senators 
from Congress, and let them meet together, and send 
delegates to this general convention, as our fathers 
did to the convention where the Declaration of Inde- 
pendence was adopted. Let them meet, and adopt a 
Constitution, fix upon some conspicuous place for a seat 
of government, Buffalo for instance, send home the 
constitution to be ratified by the several northern 
States, and having thus formed their own government, 



34 THE WAY TO 

let them withdraw their portion of the Army and 
Navy from the South, refuse to pay duties to the gen- 
eral government, and send a minister to the southern 
government for the adjustment of all claims between 
the two. Of course the South would be too busy in 
settling their own affairs to disturb us for awhile ; and 
if war come at last, it is easy to see who would be vic- 
torious ; the North with all her resources, or the South 
with her 3,000,000 of Slaves in her borders. The 
whole territory north of Mason and Dixon's line would 
then be open to the fleeing fugitive. No Slave hunter 
would dare to venture on our soil, to recover his lost 
victim. Thus Slave property would be useless in Vir- 
ginia, Maryland, Kentucky and Missouri, and probably 
those States would soon knock at our doors for admis- 
sion to our union. That would destroy the value of 
Slaves still farther South, and eventually the whole 
countrv would become free. But there is another view 
of it. The Slaves could then arise and demand their 
freedom, and nought could prevent them from attain- 
ing it. " At the first tap of the drum, there are 
10,000 northern bayonets, ready to be thrust into the 
bosoms of the Slaves, should they attempt an insurrec- 
tion," says Mr. Underwood of Kentucky, on the floor 
of Congress. This danger would have vanished. No 
northern foe could then be ready to strike down the 
Slave fighting for liberty, but millions would sympa- 
thize with and assist him. Of course the people of 
the North must be converted before this change can 
take place, but come it must. It is the only remedy 
for Slavery that we have any confidence in, and there 
is no time to be lost. 

Come it must, did we say ? It has already come in one 
sense. The people, the bone and sinew of the coun- 
try, are nearly ready for the change. The working- 
men of the North can perceive the disadvantage 
Slavery is to them ; how it degrades labor, and pre- 
vents the exaltation of the laborer ; but their leaders 
are wily, and will endeavor to persuade them, that the 



ABOLISH SLAVERY. 33 

Union is of more consequence than the abolition of 
Slavery. There can be no question, if it were not for 
the leaders in church and state, that a dissolution of 
the Union would be speedily brought about ; but these 
men, always the curses of society, stand in the way of 
all improvement in this respect. If the people had 
been allowed to act according to their own impulses, 
would Zachary Taylor have been elected President of 
this nation ? Witness the mighty gathering of free- 
dom's hosts at Buffalo ; and see to what a pitch popu- 
lar feeling arose, when the nomination of men known 
to be thoroughly opposed to slavery extension was 
made known ! The noise of acclamation, arising from 
nearly 50,000 hearts, sounded throughout this nation, 
like a thunder-clap in the ears of selfish and unprinci- 
pled leaders. No event ever produced such a 
change in the policy of corrupt men, as this demon- 
stration of the first fruits of the spirit of freedom. Pol- 
iticians as corrupt as putridity itself, trembled and cried 
aloud for help. A universal howl of despair went up 
from the hell of Slavery ; but the faces of the sons of 
freedom every where grew bright, as the countenance 
of the mother is lit up with joy when she beholds her 
first-born child lying in her arms. If such a mighty 
change took place as the result of this, the morning 
light of freedom, what will be the bowlings of the wick- 
ed, and the rejoicings of the good, when the sun of 
emancipation, shall shine in all the brightness of its 
meridian splendor, upon the dark and gloomy caverns 
of Slavery, as will be the case when a similar conven- 
tion shall nominate a man for the presidency of the 
Northern Union 1 

If the faces of the southerners and their allies were 
elongated then, what will be their length when the 
news of such a convention shall reach their ears ? 
We repeat it, the people are nearly ready for this 
change ; and only need the word of command from 
their leaders, to adopt as their watchword, " No 
more union with slave-holders." But unprincipled 



36 THE WAY TO ABOLISH SLAVERY. 

leaders never will be converted only by the people ad- 
vancing before them ; therefore our work lies with the 
people. 

Men and women of America, descendants of those 
pioneers of freedom, who braved the vicissitudes of 
fortune in a new and wilderness land, that liberty 
might be bestowed upon their children ; sons and 
daughters of the warriors of Lexington and Bunker 
Hill ; children of the patriots of the revolution ; is 
there none of that spirit of liberty which actuated 
your fathers, remaining within your hearts ? Have the 
fires of freedom become so nearly extinct in your 
breasts, as to leave no spark of liberty there, which 
can be made to ignite the hearts of cotton which sur- 
round you ? Burns there no flame of indignation in 
your souls, at the remembrance of the insults you 
have received at the hands of the South ? Say, ye 
children of proud and tyranny-hating parents, are ye 
sunk in such abject submission to your oppressors, 
that no trampling under foot your own and the Slave's 
rights, can arouse ye from your stupor ? O, is there 
no portion of that hatred of tyranny, which prompted 
your fathers to say, " resistance to tyrants is obedi- 
ence to God," left within your bosoms? Then, indeed, 
are you recreant to the principles your fathers strug- 
gled with adversity's power to establish, the base and 
degenerate sons of noble and energetic sires. 

One word more, and our task is finished. What is 
the South, that ye should cling so closely to her? 
Is she not a polluting harlot, deceiving you by her 
gay attire, and attempting to seduce you from the path 
of virtue by her blandishments? Yea, has she not 
already beguiled your simple hearts, and now that she 
has bewitched you, and obtained power over you, 
seeking but to insult and cast contempt upon you ? 
O, let us break away from her polluting embraces, and 
return to virtue and integrity. " Come out from her, 
my people, and be not partakers of her sins, that ye 
receive not of her plagues." 



